CURRENT VIDEO RELEASES

Published 4:00 am, Friday, April 24, 1998

CURRENT VIDEO RELEASES

Here is a look at some current and new video releases, reviewed by Chronicle movie critics Edward Guthmann, Mick LaSalle, Ruthe Stein and Peter Stack.

BEAN This comedy gets the silly juices flowing. Rowan Atkinson is one of the oddest-looking people anywhere -- big ears, thick eyebrows, a snouty nose -- and he plays off his appearance. The surprise is that Atkinson stays funny throughout this comedy, satirizing the inane with intelligence. Directed by Mel Smith. Rated PG-13. 87 minutes.

-- P. Stack

BOOGIE NIGHTS This superb film from Paul Thomas Anderson is more than a story about the porno film industry in the '70s and '80s. It's an exuberant panorama of social his-

tory, documenting the ethos of the disco age and its aftermath. A brilliant, sprawling success, with fine performances by Burt Reynolds as a sleazy director and Mark Wahlberg as a young man whose physical endowment makes him a pornography natural. Best of all, there's Julianne Moore as the leading porn diva of the day. Rated R. 152 minutes. -- M. LaSalle

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COPLAND. This story of corruption in a New Jersey town populated by crooked New York cops features a great cast (Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta) in support of the real star here, Sylvester Stallone, who gained 35 pounds for his role as a sad-sack, half-deaf sheriff. A solid crime movie with a performance by Stallone that should put him on the map as a character actor. Directed by James Mangold. Rated R. 100 minutes. -- M. LaSalle

THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE A young lawyer (Keanu Reeves) goes to work for a firm run by the devil (Al Pacino) in a surprisingly strong film that has vivid characters and philosophical confrontations reminiscent of Shaw. Charlize Theron is effective as Reeves' tormented wife. Directed by Taylor Hackford. Rated R. 138 minutes.

-- M. LaSalle

THE EDGE A billionaire (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife's lover (Alec Baldwin) discover what they're made of when they're stranded for weeks in the Alaskan wilderness. Warmed-over Hemingway from screenwriter David Mamet. Directed by Lee Tamahori. Rated R. 100 minutes. -- M. LaSalle

THE FULL MONTY The desperation that comes from being permanently out of work isn't an obvious subject for comedy. But this British film about unemployed steelworkers who consider stripping as a way to make some quick money manages to be funny as well as deeply moving. Robert Carlyle of "Trainspotting" fame brings a nervous energy to the central character, who persuades the other blokes to take it all off. The songs, including "Hot Stuff," "You Sexy Thing" and, of course, "The Stripper," set the mood. Directed by Peter Cattaneo. Rated R. 95 minutes. -- R. Stein

THE HOUSE OF YES Parker Posey, that sta ple of indie films, dons a pink pillbox hat to play "Jackie O," a deranged rich girl in love with her twin brother. Based on Wendy MacLeod's play, it takes place during one stormy night and deals in absurdist, faux- Beckett verbal play that probably worked better onstage. With Josh Hamilton as the incestuous twin, Tori Spelling as his ditzy fiancee, Freddie Prinze Jr. as his younger brother and Genevieve Bujold as their mother. Rated R. 85 minutes.

THE ICE STORM Moral responsibility is the theme of Ang Lee's uneven look at upper-middle-class infidelity in suburban Connecticut. His actors, including Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver and Joan Allen, are fine, but Lee is so intent on spoofing early-'70s macrame vests, Tiffany lamps, flared pants and Nixon references that his movie loses in psychological depth what it gains in camp. Tobey Maguire is particularly good as Kline and Allen's precocious son. Rated R. 112 minutes. -- E. Guthmann

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER This lightweight but well-made teen thriller is about four students who commit manslaughter. They find themselves stalked by a man who knows their secret and starts killing them, one by one. Contrived but amusing. Rated R. 100 minutes. -- M. LaSalle

IN & OUT Kevin Kline is a closeted high- school teacher in middle America and Tom Selleck a gay TV reporter who covers the effects of the teacher's outing at the Academy Awards ceremony by a heartthrob movie star (Matt Dillon). Paul Rudnick ("Addams Family Values") can be a sharp writer, but the watered-down treatment of this comedy, directed by Frank Oz, is a letdown. Joan Cusack is both funny and touching as the teacher's hysterical fiancee. Rated PG-13. 90 minutes. -- E. Guthmann

KISS THE GIRLS Fine acting lifts this per verse thriller out of its sometimes plodding, lurid depths. Morgan Freeman is brilliant as a methodical police detective on the trail of an elusive creep who kidnaps women for sex and imprisons them in an isolated dungeon. Ashley Judd is convincing as a spirit ed doctor who is abducted but fights back. Based on James Patterson's chilling novel and directed by Gary Fleder. Rated R. 117 minutes.

-- P. Stack

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL This stylish film, based on the novel by James Ellroy, takes on the dimensions of an epic. It's a superb crime drama and a masterly piece of storytelling on film, bringing together disparate plot elements for a powerful climax. Standout performances from Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey and Guy Pearce as L.A. detectives of varying degrees of shadiness. Rated R. 138 minutes. -- M. LaSalle

MAD CITY John Travolta is a disgruntled employee who takes his boss hostage and Dustin Hoffman is a TV reporter who tries to milk the story for all it's worth in this film from director Costa-Gavras. There's a lot of plea sure to be had here, but the script is about one major adjustment short of first-rate. Rated PG-13. 110 minutes. -- M. LaSalle

MORTAL KOMBAT: ANNIHILATION This se quel to "Mortal Kombat" is based on the video game. While the overwrought special effects, predictable story and buzz-saw-level rock track seem designed to be annoying, fans get a chance to wallow in "Mortal Kombat" lore. But emotionally it's completely uninvolving. The returning stars are Robin Shou, Sandra Hess, Chris Conrad, Talisa Soto and James Remar. Directed by John Leonetti. Rated PG-13. 90 minutes. -- P. Stack

RED CORNER Those who go into this Rich ard Gere film expecting a serious political drama about China may be disappointed. It actually is a fairly good Hollywood melodrama that trades on the graying heartthrob's sly, ooz ing charm. It's hokey but entertaining. Gere plays an American businessman who goes to China and winds up getting charged with rape and murder. Politics are just the backdrop here for a "Casablanca"- like romance that even features an emotional scene on the tarmac of a fog-shrouded airport. Also starring Bai Ling. Directed by Jon Avnet. Rated R. 130 minutes.

-- M. LaSalle

ROCKETMAN This is a stupid comedy, but gangly Canadian comic Harland Williams is surprisingly fresh as a computer nerd given a chance to become an astronaut in the first manned space trip to Mars. Williams' slapstick, stumblebum style keeps the movie enjoyably wacky. Jessica Lundy, William Salder and a chimp co-star. Directed by Stuart Gillard. Rated PG. 93 minutes.